We are not makers of history,
We are made by history
2000BC - Chinese Empire
As many of us know it already the Chinese Empire was known to use herbs, spices and roots for medicinal purpose, and maybe here where we can find the first knowledge regarding the use of those ingredients. The ingredients used by the Chinese doctor are now used today for Amaro production.
600BC - Greeks and Romans
Greek and Romans Empire are known to share many similarities. Romans assimilated by the Greeks the way of living, food, wines, and the use of their economic and politic. It's here where our story began, in facts both Empires used to steep in wines fruits, honey and spices, for the creation of the famous Hippocras wines.
400AD - Ibn Sina and the Schola medica Salernitana
The use of spices in the Arabic country is well known, what it is less known is that the Arabic with Ibn Sina famous doctor, studies those spices together with herbs and roots, using them in decoction, infusion and distillation to understand the benefits on the human body. After 400yrs all of those knowledge arrives in Salerno Italy, opening the first medical school opened to Latins and Greeks, which could study in the first botanical garden in Europe used for growing and studies herbs and spices.
1310 - Arnald De Villanova meets the Pope
A teacher from the University of Montpellier, Arnould de Villanova helped the Holy Father Bonifacio VIII from sure death, by colic renal, who subscribe to the Pope, something like an Amaro kind of cure, most of the illnesses weren't able to be cured in the 14th century. With this event, the Church changed the vision to the Alchemy's world. Monks especially took advance of this knowledge, which they studied and wrote manuscripts where the word Elixir of long life appeared for the first time. Those books arrived to us nowadays are used in the preparation of Amaro or even for a pharma drug reason.
1492 - Discovery of the Americas and the new spices
pharma drug reason. From a mistake of route calculation, Christopher Colombus made it probably the most important discovery of the century. Discovering the Americas indeed changed the world, positively and negatively. The unfortunate route of slavery happened in that century between Europe and Americas, bring it back to monks who at the period were the only creating Elixir new spices to play, changing organoleptically and the final product, counting that just before the discovery all the most of the spices were coming from Asia and the Middle East.
1519/1589 - Caterina de Medici
She was probably, the most influential person of the renascence period, she was coming from a wealthy family, her family build Florence, she got married later with King Herny II, introducing in the Palace of Versaille, many new customs, bringing with her Italian chef, giving the life to the french cuisine. She also introduces, at her opening party the use of liquor as aperitives, changing the idea on which until now, was that Elixir was prepared only for medical purpose.
1600s - Theriaca
The Republic of Venice has been the connection between East and West, due to the city's strategic position in the Mediterranean sea. From the 11th century, the city was one of the most potential city in the world; most of the commerce of species and herbs was happening there. In the 15th all spice and botanicals were used for the creation of what possibly was the mother of the Bitters invented later in the 1800s something called "Venitian Theriaca". Which was antidote prepared with snake's powder, testicles of deer, opium, pepper, saffron, myrrh and many more infused in alcohol and then add to wine after a long period of maceration, was prescribe to stimulate the appetite or sex. Different recipes were served not long later at the party of as welcome drink to Doge parties.
1700s - The age of Enlightenment
At the end of the 17th century with the Matematic publication of Issac Newton, the historian considers the new Era of Enlightenment has started. A period of the history where Philosofer, Intellectual and Scientist of the time, meet, discuss, and talk on journal and books regarding the fate of the world, it was the period where people finally stop it to use, animal testicles or urine, tails or legs in the Elixir for the sake of the reason.
1734 - The monastery de la Grand Chartuse
The monk of the Grande Chartreuse spent a thousand-year of research before the perfection of what today we know as Chartreuse Vert or Elixir Vegetal de la Grande Chartreuse. Using the books wrote it by the monks 300 years before just after the Pope was the cure of his renal colic, they been able to invent a mixture of 130 different botanicals, something magnificent arrived trough those year and loved by all the bar scenes in the world. Here we could understand how the idea of Amaro changed during all those years, in an organoleptic type of sense. Meanwhile in Turin in 1786 Benedetto Carpano was inventing Vermouth another great product arrived at us.
1800s - Napoleone Bonaparte.
In the 19th century was the accession to the throne of Emperor of the French by Napoleon Bonaparte which with his campaign against the British East Indie Company, decide to ban the sugar cane arrive from the Indie, due the overprice tax imposed by the British King, on the product of the century. With this campaign, Napoleone brought to the mass production of sugar beets, an invention, took place in 1747 by Andreas Maggraf, identified sucrose in beets, able to provide cheap sugar to the table, changing the fate of the world and the Amaro world forever. Another event took place during Napoleon Bonaparte period was the closure of the monastery, he wanted to make sure that all the knowledge were spread evenly through the population, bring the monks to looking for jobs or find a different way of living. Brings the monks opening liquor shop in cities such Bologna, Padova important area for most Amaro later in the future. Some monks exchange secret such Amaro recipe for some food, or a small amount of money, payment to repair at their monastery outside the empire for the birth of some Amaro, arrived to us.
1830s - Bitters are born
During the same period that Napoleon was around his empire continuing his monastery closure campaign, another event was changing the fate of the Amaro world, a German doctor, who invented a tonic to aid the army of Venezuela General Simon Bolivar using, South American barks and spices as a principal component to cure some illness of the period. Dr Siegart invented Angostura bitter, as medicinal, starting a real boom in the production of many other bitters in all Americas, began to be sold in pharmacy to cure depression, loss of appetite, cold, fever or any other symptoms until the FDA arrived in 1906.
1900s - The Amaro arrives at Italian Royal Court
Many amaro producers, start to sell their Amaro, in the local market, or fair, or like someone even door to door proud of their product. What until this moment was sell in pharmacies, created following old recipes given by monks as payment or exchange of money, some of those products, began to be sold as proper recreational liquor to be used during a family meeting or ceremonies like wedding or engagement party, starting to be popular in the Italian culture. And here where the King of Savoy is becoming his interest in the new product and what until now was a privilege reserved only to Vermouth producer, in 1912 also few Amaro arrive at Royal Palace becoming the official supplier of the Royal Italian family. For the opening of a new market such as the US.
1910s-Prohibition era, the birth of FDA and World Wars
Meanwhile, many amaros were arriving in the US market, the Meanwhile, many Amaro were arriving in the US market, the country was preparing himself to an internal crisis, from one side an organisation born in 1906 Food and Drug Association, started a campaign years before to make sure what product could be sold in the country as medicinal purpose by being administrated by the doctor. In 1919, the US government passed the Volstead Act better-known Prohibition Era, it where the alcohol imported and distilled in the US land banned with the contradiction with the FDA, where people were allowed to consume Amaro in pharmacy, for the happiness of the producer and the people.
In the meantime, with the US facing those internal crises, the world was instead in the middle of a war, destroying a big part of Europe. Many targets were train rails connections, to be able to disturb the transportation of the enemies country, unfortunately in this mass bombardment took place also the destruction of many Amaro facility company, slow down or even interrupt the production of their product for several years.
1950s the Amaro golden age and the cold war.
While at the end of the wars, the cold war starts with the Berlin wall erected, Amaro family from east Europe decide to leave behind all their own together with the essential but fake document, regarding the recipe of the family amaro, it happened that until the late 80s few Amaro produced it in both sides of the wall, of course, the one from the east using the fake recipe. In the meantime, in Italy, Many amaro families decide to wait for the end of the two world war before rebuilding their facility, someone with the hope for better days to come, and some because during wars they lost all money and needed time to rebuild the company, after the end of the World War II, began the golden age of the Amaro, people in 1950, were happy. Finally, everybody was meeting in the famous in the bars of the Italian square, to celebrate the end of World Wars. It was the period when people come back to reinvest, and even the big companies were investing in publicity, reopening their famous bar, opening their terrace became famous in all the world, it was the beginning de la Dolce Vita. Following the moment, many small brands are born between those years, resulting in the Golden Age of the Italian liquor Amaro, Vermouth and many others.
1990s the dark age begun
The Golden age only lasts 40 years or so, people became, to change his tendency. Bring people became to love American habits, thanks to movies like Cocktail with Tom Cruise or Saturday night fever with John Travolta, start changing their life, ordering at the bar Gin&Tonic or Whisky&Soda instead of a nice glass of Amaro. Slowly everybody left behind the Amaro culture. Starting the beginning of the dark age, with drastically consequences in the method production. Many companies decide to best using poor qualities ingredients to be able to survive the crisis, many instead close down their facility or sold for a better offer. Unfortunately, in this period, we have lost some essential brands that made this category famous in the world.
2000s - The new golden age
Amaro comes back, people, finally goes back to love Amaro once again. Thanks to many bartenders around the world, decides the idea "Bitter the Better", many bars especially in the US are opening doors to let this category in on their shelf, on the other side many brands joined under the same umbrella initiating a campaign to promote their product. Many brands are coming back in their feet, reproducing Amaro again, decides to use the same passion, the same recipe and quality before of the dark age. In somehow it looks like we have come back in that fabulous period of the first Golden Age.